Coming into Rebirth, I worried a lot about how it'd follow up Remake. Remake left a lot on the table with sudden twists and turns at the ending. It felt on rails and lacked a lot of room to wiggle around and explore. It enhanced the characters of FF7 to a fantastic degree. Would Rebirth carry this torch onward? I'm so glad it lived up to my hopes and dreams.
Everything about this game takes Remake's foundation and builds upon it tenfold. The characters are ABSOLUTELY fantastic. Specific characters like Barret and Yuffie are easily the best incarnation they've ever been. All the moments between characters and storylines are so damn fantastic. Shoutout to the voice direction, too!
Gameplay is DAMN smooth. The only character I didn't love playing is Aerith. Each playable character has a unique way to play that they bring to the table, and there's just enough nuance in the controls and attacks that you can level up your gameplay and feel great doing so. The amount of content in this game is overwhelming, too. I finished at 88 hours with another 10-20 hours left on the table not counting running through chapters again in hard mode to snag all the collectibles. It goes to show just how much they packed into this game as a labor of love.
The plot is not as on the rails as the original. Rebirth had a tough task to follow, considering that this section of FF7OG is mostly the party aimlessly wandering the world stumbling into stuff to do. There's more purpose here than in the original. Every stop along the way is a great step for the party and the plot. As for the plot itself, I have a few questions regarding the ending and what interpretations there are. That being said, I'm still content with it all. This game cleans up some of the OG and expands where necessary.
The soundtrack is OST of the year, full stop. The amount of tracks still in my head after playing the game over this past month is well over a dozen. The composers went CRAZY to make sure we'd have lovely returning tunes brought to life alongside absolute jams that are completely original. Visuals are what you expect. Everything is beautiful on PS5. The game is smooth, looks cool, and there's tons of spectacle to be seen here.
I'm so happy I got to experience this game. As someone who loves the original, having played it so many years ago, seeing so many important story and character moments brought to life fills my heart with joy. It can be hard jumping into Rebirth for a newcomer, but it's an absolute must play for FF7 and RPG fans across the board. Such a satisfying game. I'll see you all in 4 years to see the thrilling conclusion to this trilogy.

Is this game perfect? Absolutely not. it's got it's issues for sure. But I don't care. This game is just... man.

The side content in this game is phenomenal. The music is phenomenal. Honolulu was a great setting. There's tons of fantastic boss fights and dynamic action sequences. The gameplay is a billion times better than 7. It took 7's combat and turned it into one of the most engaging JRPG combat systems I've played. Poundmates and regular attacks are so much better. Reclassing and jobs have been streamlined signifcantly, making it way easier to utilize a wide variety of skills.

Yeah, the story had times where it wasn’t super engaging, and the antagonists I felt were a bit lacking for the LaD series- but the character moments in this game go so unbelievably hard. This game made me like Ichiban even more than before and he's now one of my favorite characters in fiction ever. Chitose and Tomi were both fantastic, and are in my opinion better than any of 7's party members. Seonhee I was skeptical of first as a party member, but she fit in so well. I loved her interactions with Kiryu and everyone else. I will say, it felt like some of the returning party members weren't given a lot to do and were just kind of there, but their presence still felt natural due to the sheer amount of group interactions the party has via drink links, walk and talks, and table talks.

There were many great moments between the characters over the course of the main story as well. And that ending sequence before the credits rolled is actually one of the best scenes in any piece of media I have ever witnessed. I hate using this word to describe it, because it sounds really pretentious, but it truly was cinema.

Infinite Wealth is an amazing game. It made me cry more than any other entry in the franchise. If this were the last LaD game, I would be okay with that.

Played through Yuffie's story to prep for Rebirth, and boy howdy glad I sure did!
The long and short of it this side story fucking rules, combat in the remake is still good, graphics are breathtaking, music is peak, and I'm dying to get my hands on Rebirth already. I think a bit of a disappointment is that you're so railroaded overall, you can't explore the set pieces as much as I'd like. Been so long I found myself annoyed I didn't have a jump button. Game makes you interact with it on its terms. For a game as cinematic and presentation-oriented as it is, I get it. All in all a dope side story that I wish was slightly cheaper for what it is, but an excellent refresher to get myself ready for the next major title.
Also Fort Condor is actually fun this time around so insane W